Wilson County Sheriff's Office deputies subdue the handcuffed suspect in a shooting and stabbing incident on U.S. 301 north of Wilson Thusday. Drew C. Wilson | TImes

Posted
Friday, February 23, 2018 9:30 pm

Zimbelman

By Olivia Neeley

olivia@wilsontimes.com | 252-265-7879

Deputies say a Wilson man charged with attempted murder shot a woman after the two took psychedelic mushrooms and he accused her of being an undercover police officer.

On Thursday, the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office responded to the area of Old Sharpsburg Loop and U.S. 301 North after a woman called 911 to say shots were fired. The incident was reported around 9:30 a.m.

Chad Davis Zimbelman, 28, faces an attempted first-degree murder charge and felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury in connection to Thursday’s shooting. He is currently in the Wilson County jail without bond.

“They engaged in conversation of using recreational-type drugs,” according to Wanda Samuel, sheriff’s office chief of staff.

Samuel said the woman told authorities that she and Zimbleman took psilocybin or “psychedelic mushrooms” on Thursday morning at his 3641 U.S. 301 N. home.

She started to get sick and Zimbleman became belligerent, according to deputies. Zimbleman accused the woman of being the police and an undercover officer, according to the sheriff’s office.

That’s when Zimbleman went to his car and retrieved his handgun, Samuel said. He shot the woman four times — once in the shoulder, twice in her back and once in her stomach.

Samuel said the woman somehow got Zimbleman to calm down and the two got inside her car. The woman told deputies she was trying to find a safe place to go. As the woman got near Leigh Ann Circle, she jumped out of her car and ran to the business, R+L Carriers, and collapsed on the ground, according to deputies.

Officials found the woman lying on the ground in the parking lot.

Authorities quickly found Zimbleman, who was running down U.S. 301. He was arrested on the scene.

Deputies also executed a search warrant at Zimbleman’s home where they seized more than 15 firearms, including handguns, rifles and shotguns and “well over 3,000 rounds of ammunition,” according to Samuel.

The woman was taken to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, where officials say she is expected to recover. Zimbleman was taken to Wilson Medical Center where he was medically cleared before being taken to jail.

Zimbleman has no criminal convictions in North Carolina, according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety’s criminal offender search.